Innovative approaches can boost women’s economic presence among small business owners in Latin America and the Caribbean
Over the past three decades, women in Latin America and the Caribbean have dramatically increased their role in the workforce. Currently, about half of women in the region are economically active, more than double the level in the 1970s. They have been elected presidents of several Latin American countries and often dominate the microenterprise and microfinance sector, providing an important contribution to regional economies.

Latin American and Caribbean leaders expect per capita income to fall or grow moderately in the 2009–2012 period and governments to rely more on financing from international institutions, according to a survey by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The expectations contrast sharply with the recent economic performance in the region, where product per capita grew 4.1 percent annually in the past five years.

Since the mid-1990s the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has been the leading source of multilateral financing for Colombia. Over the last 50 years, the IDB has approved more than US$14.8 billion in loans and non-refundable technical cooperation projects for Colombia.
Throughout its history, the IDB has supported the Colombian government and private sector in key development areas such as infrastructure, state modernization and reform, small and medium enterprise, agriculture, energy, climate change and environmental protection.

Investing in housing, healthcare, education, basic utilities and nutrition can not only fulfill a social mission, but it can also be a profitable business venture. This is the concept of IGNIA Fund, which will channel venture capital resources to fund commercially viable growth companies serving the “base of the pyramid,” those persons in Latin America and the Caribbean earning less than $3,260 a year. The IGNIA Fund selects projects with the potential to be expanded on a larger scale, thereby increasing the social and economic impact.

By Charo QuesadaWhen Mexicans or Panamanians say they are “going to the Chino for groceries” they are not talking about some Chinese individual that happened to open a business around the corner from where they live. In their countries, the Chinese store has become an institution with a long tradition, providing a large and convenient selection of basic products, at low cost and with convenient business hours.

A study realized by scholars at the universities of Chicago, Maryland and the Hoover Institution demonstrated that technology is helping reduce inequality in the world. Bary S. Bercker, Tomas J. Philopson, and Rodrigo R. Soares compared “the welfare value of gains in life expectancy with gains in income” to get the “effect of life expectancy on the evolution of world inequality.”

These past ten years have seen many changes in the national and international level, a great improvement in women health, education, professional and intellectual development, citizen rights, and even women have won more positions in the government, allowing women such as Epsy Campbell to serve directly and with more influence to her fellow Costa Ricans. However, she recognizes that for her, as well as for many other women, enjoying those rights was not easy because in the personal level many times these changes can not be seen.

By Charo QuesadaOn paper, Latin America is almost a model of equitable and gender-neutral justice. Nearly all governments in the region have signed and ratified international agreements guaranteeing access to the courts and equality under the law, regardless of sex.

Many poor women in Latin America have trouble entering the labor market. A pilot program to increase women's employability in the region has strengthened training for women in technical schools and improved the quality, opportunities and gender equity in technical training and in the labor market.

They belong to the middle class, have university degrees and on average begin to think about being entrepreneurs at 25, but they do not open their first company until about 5 years later. These are the characteristics that define the young Latin American entrepreneurs, according to a recent study by the Inter-American Development Bank that is the subject of the book Desarrollo Emprendedor (published in Spanish and available in English in the fall).